Effect of using of spacers for rear-only

[mit_peid]

I can somewhat follow and understand the negative effects of using wheel spacers for the front wheels (curb radius, numbing steering responsiveness, etc) especially having after driving with & without them. I'm curious if there are any technical/performance reasons why running them in the back is bad (besides the extra weight of spacers and just "something else that can go wrong" if not installed/torqued appropriately).

Thanks for any input. I'm really just asking.

[R3d]

my opinion about spacers is that they can be dangerous and have very little chance of being usefull in anyway. So I stay away from them. I would rather use a wheel designed to the right size and pay a bit more to save on the hassle of uncertainty.

This is only my opinion and some people might actually know how to properly use those things and could possibly guide you better.

anyway a quick google :
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...5000444AAtYpXh

[Wonderbar]

Biggest issue is hard wear on wheel bearings. Even that is debatable

[mit_peid]

Seems like you would have same issues with wear/load on wheel bearings with wheels with aggressive/low offsets.

[mrk1]

I've used them for years on various cars and various sizes. Never have I had a problem directly related to them. Wear on bearings is a ridiculous claim to me. Hard cornering and hard driving in general isn't very nice to your car so why start singling out bearings, bearings are replaceable. Yes when your running spacers and you take wheels on and off you need to make sure everything is sitting flush and correct or you may have a problem but same can be said for a regular old wheel. Only problems I have seen with spacers have come down to operator error. As always you get what you pay for, I see one size fits all spacers at auto zone and those scare me.

[wparsons]

There are no negative side effects from spacers alone, it all boils down to the final offset. If you were to run 17x9+55 with 10mm spacers or 17x9+45 the final offset is the same and they'll feel the same on the road.

[DAEMANO]

Originally Posted by mit_peid

I can somewhat follow and understand the negative effects of using wheel spacers for the front wheels (curb radius, numbing steering responsiveness, etc) especially having after driving with & without them. I'm curious if there are any technical/performance reasons why running them in the back is bad (besides the extra weight of spacers and just "something else that can go wrong" if not installed/torqued appropriately).

Thanks for any input. I'm really just asking.

IMO, no there are no technical or performance reasons why running spacers in the back only is bad per se. You made get some handling characteristics that you'll need to tune to balance (perhaps a bit of understeer), but the only way to know is to try it and see.

From a mechanical aspect, running spacers of any kind will have the following effects.

1. Your Scrub Radius will change.
2. Your Unsprung Mass will increase at the wheel hub (which is generally better than at the edge of the wheel) but still not preferred.

So running a spacer/adapter in the rear but none in the front will only have the above effects on the rear wheels (similar to running a slightly wider and heavier wheel in the rear). Since people do this all the time with staggered wheel fitments your change should be no different than running a similar setup in some ways.

[DaBrz]

I run spacers on the stock rim/tires. Spacers in the rear felt stock-ish to me even driving relatively hard. Spacers in the front felt terrible. Took em off after 2 days.